In 1890, the English writer Oscar Wilde penned a story about a
handsome, erudite, and suave man who never seemed to age and whose life
of debauchery never reflected on his visage. Hidden from prying eyes in
the man’s attic, however, stood a portrait of the man as he—or his
soul—really was: decrepit, tainted, and unwell. Wilde’s book, The
Picture of Dorian Gray, illustrated the unpleasant things that can lie
beneath a pleasant surface—unseen and, sometimes, even unknown to
ourselves.
The human body can be little different from Dorian
Gray. Beneath a seemingly healthy exterior can lurk problems of which we
are unaware. This is why the medical profession encourages regular
screenings and check-ups and why places like Eastland Chiropractic and
Lifestyle Center have adopted The Wellness Score, a new scale of
wellness developed by Dr. Dane Donohue, the nationally-renowned
chiropractor who also co-created the
“8 Weeks to Wellness Program.”
Deb Hoelscher, co-founder of Eastland Chiropractic, explains that
wellness “is not just the absence of symptoms, because we know that
people can have no symptoms, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that
they’re well—like with heart disease.” That’s where the new scale of
wellness comes in.
The Burden of Stress
The Wellness Score takes into account not just the obvious, such as
the healthy habit of regular exercise, but it also measures the effects
of other factors—issues broken down and categorized into the three T’s
of trauma, thoughts, and toxins. Within these categories are such things
as: the types of foods ingested; the intake of substances like tobacco,
alcohol, and drugs—both prescription and illegal; and physical, mental
and emotional stress.
Stress plays a big part in the overall
wellness of the body and a surprising number of things can lead to or
cause stress outright. Emotional and mental stress can be brought on by
an almost never-ending list of troubles: financial worries, school,
work, family, guilt, anger, personal relationships, or grief over the
loss of a loved one.
The stress list is far from over. Along
with mental and emotional strain, there are always the more apparent
physical stress factors. Some of these factors are not surprising, of
course. Things like childbirth, accidents, and injury are obvious, but
the Wellness Score also takes the unseen physical stress catalysts into
account, things like a sedentary lifestyle, regular computer use and
even poor posture.
“It all goes back to stress,” says Eastland
Chiropractic’s Dr. Steve Gagliano. “Stress affects the nervous system.
The nervous system controls everything. If you have problems with your
nervous system, you start to have functional problems.” Weight, for
instance, can most certainly be one of those problem-causing issues.
“When you’re a little bit overweight, that’s absolutely stressful on the
body.”
Hidden Beneath the Surface
Yet
there are plenty of people who have their weight under control and would
still not test well, according to the Wellness Score’s criteria. Your
“weight can be within reason but you can have no core strength or
flexibility,” Deb explains. Body fat percentage can still be high. “It’s
what we call ‘skinny fat.’”
A patient may visibly appear
healthy, but there are still problems lingering beneath the surface. For
instance, when weight lifters and body builders come in to Eastland
Chiropractic, it is often found that their problems are not resultant
from overworking muscles. “It’s not the big muscles,” Deb iterates.
“It’s the little core muscles that attach to the spine that keep it
stabilized,” these are the ones that can be overlooked. This can lead to
spinal misalignment and potential arthritic degeneration in the
weight-bearing joints. Such spinal muscle groups are evaluated by the
Wellness Score in a series of four core strength tests.
Trials of Body and Spirit
The strength tests are joined by fifteen other tests, including a
set of four core flexibility trials. Upper and lower postural muscles
are tested to look for signs of muscle “shortening.” As humans age, our
muscles tighten, limiting our range of motion and causing the most
common of tasks to prove difficult. Deb suggests even just “hefting a
can of beans” while in the kitchen or watching TV can help keep these
muscles retain their range of motion.
Besides evaluating muscle
strength and flexibility, the Wellness Score also implements some of the
standard medical tests measuring fat mass, the body mass index (BMI),
diastolic blood pressure, resting heart rate, waist to hip ratio, foot
pronation, and the palpatory subluxation rating, which reveals any
misalignments in the spinal segments.
Certain subjective surveys
are included as well. The Health Satisfaction Survey rates satisfaction
with one’s personal chemical, physical and emotional health. The
Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) rates satisfaction with one’s
job. Finally, there’s the Oswestry Disability Index, a survey of how
pain may or may not affect one on a daily basis.
Each one of
these tests carries a point value which, in turn, fit into one of three
categories: functional fitness, general health, and neuro-spinal health.
The totals in those categories are then added up and result in an
overall wellness score, which is presented as a grade identical to those
used in school. An “A” is excellent or optimal health, a “B” is good,
and so on. And, like in school, a score of a “D” should not be taken
lightly.
Unlike school, however, an “F” does not mean all is
over and it is too late to improve. As long as a patient is willing to
put in the effort, “we can retest them, and see the improvements that
they’ve made,” Deb assures. “Getting them into an exercise program,
getting their diet changed—while we don’t do all of those things here,
we work with other professionals to try to get those people out to who
they need to.”
Changing for the Better
Unfortunately for those who need instant gratification, improvement is
not something that happens overnight. Often it requires, as Deb says,
“designing a lifestyle, and then being determined and disciplined enough
to do it.”
This means steady dedication to a new way of living, not
just living well on the weekends. Among those who require aid at
Eastland Chiropractic are those who metaphorically go from zero to sixty
in one day: “The weekend warriors,” Deb describes, “are people that
decide ‘okay, I’m going to go out and get into shape’, and they go to
the gym and work for an hour instead of stair-stepping it in.” Exercise
is good, but too much too soon can lead back to, yes, stress.
Fortunately, there is a general swing toward people wanting to uncover
their Dorian Grays. The alarming statistics of childhood obesity and the
lowering of the average ages for diabetes and heart disease are
starting to open a lot of eyes. “We’re seeing that shift,” Deb states.
“We’re seeing people wanting to seek out wellness more, and the Wellness
Score is such a nice way to measure that—to give them something
tangible.” In fact, the staff at Eastland Chiropractic is so convinced
of the Wellness Score’s effectiveness, it is now part of the standard
examination.
The examination need not end at the clinic,
however. After a patient is tested at Eastland Chiropractic, they are
given a printout indicating which areas need help and which are alright.
From there, an individual has the ability to increase their grade from
home.
Much of increasing one’s score boils down to small and
simple things. “Just look at your diet,” Deb suggests. This includes
looking into how one is acquiring one’s vitamins. “You should get as
much as you can naturally,” she continues. Either way, the first step
toward increasing one’s score is by looking at oneself.
That is the
purpose of the Wellness Score: to show that it is not too late to
touch-up one’s own Dorian Gray painting, and it is the purpose of
Eastland Chiropractic and Lifestyle Center to help in that restoration.
Their goal is and always has been to, as Deb Hoelscher puts it, help
their patients “make an improvement and prolong their life or have a
better quality of life.”
For more information,
you may contact Eastland Chiropractic & Lifestyle Center
at 309-662-8418 or visit www.eastlandchiro.com. They are a
family-oriented practice with over 25 years of service located at 2406
E. Washington St. in Bloomington.